Samantha Sullivan

Samantha Sullivan is the Assistant Volleyball Coach at Macalester College.

Sam Sullivan joined the Macalester coaching staff as an assistant volleyball coach before the 2019 season. She has played a significant role in assisting head coach Mary Johnston with the program's turnaround that has seen the Scots post back-to-back winning seasons in 2021 and 2022.

As the Scots' top assistant, Sullivan's main responsibilities including recruiting, team development on and off the court, and administrative duties such as social media and travel. While at Macalester, she has coached two-time All-MIAC player Eliza King and helped the team improve from 4-21 in 2019 to 14-13 in 2022. The team also has earned the AVCA Academic Team award every semester since Sullivan's arrival.

Sullivan came to Macalester after four years as an assistant coach at St. Catherine University. At St. Kate's, she assisted with all aspects of the volleyball program, including scouting, recruiting, practice planning, and skill development. She also aided with team fundraising and was in charge of the team's social media accounts.

In addition to her time at St. Catherine, Sullivan has club volleyball and camp coaching experience. Since 2015, she has coached for Kokoro Volleyball Club, which is based out of St. Paul. An Associate Director at Kokoro since 2021, Sullivan has coached several teams that have had success on the national level, including the Kokoro 17-1 squad that captured first place at the JVA World Challenge in the 17 Premiere division. She also has been involved with several volleyball camps, including camps at Minnesota State University Moorhead, Minnesota Elite Camps, and camps at Macalester.

Sullivan graduated from Minnesota State University Moorhead in 2015, majoring in Exercise Science and playing four years of Division II volleyball in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC). During her college career, Sullivan recorded almost 1,300 career assists and over 60 service aces.

After earning her undergraduate degree, Sullivan went on to obtain her Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership from St. Catherine University in 2018 while also earning a Strategic Management certificate.

As a prep, Sullivan was an All-Conference setter for Woodbury High School, leading her team in both assists and aces during her senior season. She also played club volleyball for Minnesota One and Kokoro.